Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi waved while leaving the Brics summit in Brazil on July 16.

Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

Indian fashion has a new face: Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The new premier is turning heads with his dapper looks, his well-cut Indian suits and his fondness for bright colors, which make him stand out like a peacock in the country’s crowd of drably dressed politicos.

During a visit to Nepal this week, Mr. Modi wore a sky blue waistcoat over a gold kurta and crisp white leggings. For a visit to a Hindu temple in Katmandu, he donned a saffron kurta with a red-and-orange red paisley shawl folded and draped elegantly over his shoulder.

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Mr. Modi has very specific fashion likes and dislikes, says Bipin Chauhan, the Gujarat tailor who made the clothes Mr. Modi wore on his Nepal trip. The premier’s favorite color is cream and he likes linens and silks, Mr. Chauhan says.

“He prefers traditional Indian clothes. Sure other politicians also wear kurta pajamas, but not like Modi-ji,” says Mr. Chauhan. “The way he wears the clothes, his personality, his body language, attitude, the power he exudes, his rising aura, all this makes him stand out in a crowd.”

Mr. Chauhan, director of Ahmedabad clothing store Jade Blue, says he has been making outfits for Mr. Modi since 1989. He says he uses Matka silk, a rough Indian handloom fabric, and Italian wool for Mr. Modi’s jackets and suits. Shirts are mostly made from linen. The two pick colors together, Mr. Chauhan says.

Mr. Chauhan, who clearly adores his most famous client, says: “I tell him, ‘whatever you wear, however you wear it, you look like a lion.’”

European Pressphoto Agency

And Mr. Modi isn’t afraid to push the fashion envelope. When the 63-year-old leader of the world’s largest democracy arrived in Brazil for last month’s Brics summit, he was rocking a short-sleeved pink kurta under a gray plaid vest.

For meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, he wore a more sedate brown suit with a mandarin collar, but livened it up with a jaunty red-and-green ikat silk pocket square.

“He gives a sense that India can be prosperous again. There is no scruffiness there,” said Hindol Sengupta, author of books on politics and fashion, including “100 Things to Know and Debate Before You Vote,” “Ramp Up” and “Indian Fashion.” Mr. Modi’s immaculate outfits telegraph his “core message,” Mr. Sengupta says, that India is back in business.

On the home front, Mr. Modi faces little competition – at least in terms of fashion – from his fellow politicians who routinely wear dour Nehru suits or ill-fitting safari-style bush shirts. Politicians from the Congress party, the main rival to Mr. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, like to stick to white homespun-looking getups in an effort to cultivate an everyman, Gandhian image.

In contrast, Mr. Modi’s wardrobe choices are a giddy riot of color. He wears a range of traditional Indian clothes. He also likes hats, and during his election campaign was famous for donning local headgear during appearances.

“He wants to be seen as strictly neutral is in his politics as in his clothes. He brings together quietly a strictly Indian outfit that is neither inspired by Hindu or Muslim tailoring. It is sharp, yet practical,” says Mr. Sengupta, the author. “It is always creaseless.”

But Mr. Modi’s own high sartorial standards are exposing him to occasional criticism. On his return from Brazil in July, Indian media scored his fashion performance.

Associated Press

In a front-page story, the Economic Times asked whether Mr. Modi, whose “clothing style and its color palette has evolved over the years,” had fallen short because “he didn’t experiment too much with the template of the Indian dignitary abroad.”

India Today took issue with a scarf Mr. Modi wore when alighting from Air India One, tut-tutting that “though the scarf and its drape certainly tie in with the style extensively seen in the Indian heartland, staying true to his patriotic style, the PM could have done with a smarter choice.” Ouch.

Some fashionistas speculate it is only a matter of time before Mr. Modi looks to conquer the Western suit-and-tie look, maybe even in time for his visit to the U.S. in September.

“Modi is looking for a Western edge, for sure. He’s rock solid in his local roots but he has his eyes set on being an international citizen,” said fashion columnist Namrata Zakaria. “The U.S. trip is a very big deal for him.”

The Economic Times reported that Mr. Modi wanted Mumbai-based fashion designer Troy Costa to design his U.S-tour wardrobe. Mr. Costa, known for dressing Bollywood stars and India’s super-rich, declined to comment, as did the BJP.

Mr. Chauhan, Mr. Modi’s tailor in Ahmedabad, says the prime minister’s office has yet to get in touch about wardrobe choices for Mr. Modi’s U.S. trip.

In any case, when Mr. Modi visits in September, the leaves will be turning colors in Washington – a perfect opportunity to unveil the latest in fall fashion.

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India Real Time offers analysis and insights into the broad range of developments in business, markets, the economy, politics, culture, sports, and entertainment that take place every single day in the world’s largest democracy. Regular posts from Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires reporters around the country provide a unique take on the main stories in the news, shed light on what else mattered and why, and give global readers a snapshot of what Indians have been talking about all week. You can contact the editors at indiarealtime(at)wsj(dot)com.